After Sun Quan attacked Huang Zu and defeated his general Ling Cao, he retreated to clean up the territory and pacify the bandits, always thinking of revenge.
Suddenly I heard that Liu Cong was rising in Jingzhou, and that Liu Bei's troops defeated Cao Ren and recovered the whole territory of Nanyang. He was suspicious and ordered people to inquire in detail.
Cao Cao also sent an envoy to Jianye to accuse Sun Quan of resisting the decree and ordered him to immediately send troops to Jiangxia to obey the will of heaven.
At this time, Zhou Yu was training troops in Chaisang, and Sun Quan was discussing countermeasures with Lu Su, Zhang Zhao and others.
Sun Quan said: "If you help Cao Cao, Liu Biao and his son will perish soon, and Jingzhou will be captured by Cao Cao, which will endanger Jiangdong; if you don't help Cao Cao, your father's hatred will have to be avenged. What good plan do you two have?"
Lu Su said: "Jingzhou and Jiangdong are closely related to each other. I recently heard that Cao Cao built the Xuanwu Pond to train his naval forces. He must have the intention of marching south. Since Jingzhou is lost, he will attack Jiangdong. Liu Qi's resistance to Cao is like a snipe and a clam fighting, so it is better to wait and see. Change, wait and take advantage of it.”
Zhang Zhao sneered and said: "Cao Cao holds the emperor in the north and has more than a million people under his command? Liu Qi doesn't know the heights of the sky. If he uses his power rashly, he will definitely be killed. My lord did not send his son to the court last time. Cao Cao holds a grudge. If he disobeys again, he will be killed." Who can stop the Cao family from sending troops for this reason? By sending troops at this time, you can not only get revenge, but also make good friends with the Cao family, so why not do it?"
Lu Su said: "I foolishly thought that Liu Qi's sudden army suddenly rose up and captured Nanyang in half a month, so he would do something. It is better to stand still and watch his movements. If Liu Qi can resist Cao Cao, he should put the overall situation first, delay revenge, and conspire with the Central Plains. If you can't win, it's not too late to try other strategies."
Zhang Zhao had always been dissatisfied with Lu Su because he was young and careless. Hearing this, he said: "Most of the people in charge of the army at Chaisang are well aware of the changes in Jingzhou. Why not order him to make his own decisions? If he can send troops, he will march from Chaisang to Xiakou in the morning and evening." Come and defeat Huang Zu!"
"What Mr. Zhang said makes sense!" Sun Quan couldn't make a choice, so he had to throw the problem to Zhou Yu.
Zhang Zhao was content with stroking his beard. Zhou Yu had always advocated conquest and disagreed with him, but this time in order to get a good relationship with Cao Cao, he had to let Zhou Yu agree.
When the envoy went to Chaisang to deliver the order, Lü Meng was overjoyed and said: "Gan Ning has been transferred to Nanyang. The other generals have nothing to fear. The dead bones in Huang Zu's tomb can be settled in one battle!"
Zhou Yu, however, stood at the mouth of the river with his hands behind his hands, looking towards the north in silence. After a while, he slowly said: "The time has not come yet!"
Lu Meng asked doubtfully: "Now that Jingzhou is deploying all its troops to fight against Cao Cao, the territory is empty. If we get Jiangxia, we can march westward and seize the Chu Pass to take advantage of the Yangtze River. How can I doubt it?"
Zhou Yu said with emotion: "Liu Qi soared into the sky, shut down and killed, and Xu Shu and Wolong helped him. The outcome of the battle in Nanyang is unpredictable!"
Lu Meng laughed and said: "Liu Qi, a sick man, has been oppressed by the Cai family for many years. He got up by chance, but it is short-lived. Jingzhou will be acquired by the Cao family sooner or later. Why not take advantage of it earlier?"
During the discussion, Tan Ma came to report that Xiahou Dun's 100,000-strong army was defeated in Bowang. The entire army was wiped out and fled back to Xuchang.
Lu Meng was shocked and said: "How could Liu Qi defeat Cao's army again?"
"Liu Qi? Are the golden scales/a thing in the pond..."
Zhou Yu let out a long sigh, a ray of light disappeared from the depths of his eyes, and ordered Lu Meng and others to continue training troops and strictly control the water fortresses everywhere.
Turning back to Chai Sang and coming to the back hall, he smelled a strong aroma of wine and said helplessly: "Shi Yuan is drunk again!"
One of the people in the side room laughed and said: "The Lord of Jingzhou has appeared. My relatives and friends have been saved. There is a successor to the Han Dynasty. How can I not have a drink to celebrate?"
Zhou Yu came to the door, his eyebrows slightly furrowed, and a wry smile appeared on his handsome face, and he sighed: "I heard that the Crouching Dragon and the Phoenix chicks have the same names, the Phoenix chicks are wild, the Crouching Dragon is a villager, and all the people in Jingzhou are so vulgar?"
There was a person in the room leaning on the table, drinking with his chest exposed. He had a short appearance, splayed eyebrows, triangular eyes, a mustache, and a weird smile at the corner of his mouth. The whole person looked extremely wretched. He was none other than Feng Chu Pang Tong.
Pang Tong traveled to Jiangdong years ago and made friends with Jiangdong Lu Ji, Gu Shao and others. When he returned, he passed by Chaisang and was retained by Zhou Yu. Although he was not a military counselor, he knew everything about Jingzhou.
"Hahaha!" Pang Tong laughed and said: "Wolong Tianzong is a genius, his elegance is not inferior to that of the governor, and even his piano skills are even better than them!"
"Oh?" Zhou Yu narrowed his eyes slightly, walked over and sat across from him, "You are so talented, how about Mr. Bi?"
"Ten times as good as me!"
Zhou Yu was surprised. Seeing Pang Tong's indifferent expression, he asked again: "Today, Cao Cao has gathered an army of 500,000 to take revenge. He wants to annex Nanyang and take Jingzhou. Liu Qi's army is less than 100,000. What do you think of the victory or defeat, Sir?"
Pang Tong took a sip of wine and asked: "Yuan and Cao fought in Guandu. What do you think of the victory or defeat?"
Zhou Yu said with a smile: "Yuan Shao is arrogant and arrogant and cannot employ people. Cao Cao is a traitor in the world. How can we be the same?"
Pang Tong tugged at his beard and said calmly: "The governor is familiar with military books. Don't you know that arrogant soldiers will be defeated?"
Zhou Yu sat there and meditated for a long time. When he heard that Pang Tong was asleep and snoring, he was alarmed and got up and returned to the lobby.
He immediately wrote a letter and ordered people to be sent to Jianye to report back to Sun Quan. The navy had not yet been trained and the ships were not ready, so they could not send troops.
After he finished arranging everything, he came back to ask Pang Tong about Wolong, but he saw that the room was empty. A note of war was left on the table, which read: Every man is responsible for the rise and fall of the world!
After Zhou Yu looked at it, he felt disappointed and cursed angrily: "Fengxiao, Fengxiao, you are really a gangster! Knowing that Jingzhou was about to be in chaos, he fled far away from Jiangdong. Now I see Liu Qi rising up and drifting away again. He will have to pay me back ten times as much one day." Here comes the wine.”
In Jianye City, Sun Quan read the letter, stroked his beard and laughed and said: "Sure enough, heroes think alike!"
He immediately ordered people to invite Lu Su, handed him the letter, and said with a smile: "What Gong Jin said really coincides with Zijing."
Sun Quan was happy because his inner thoughts were consistent with those of Zhou Yu and Lu Su, which greatly increased his confidence.
This is like a student who has just entered high school and finds that his problem-solving ideas are the same as those of his teacher. You can imagine how proud he feels.
"This is also a sign of your lord's wisdom!" Lu Su praised Sun Quan first and then lowered his head to read the letter.
After reading it, he said: "The Central Plains is a land within the sea. Both cities are where the Han Dynasty started their business. If my lord wants to become a hegemon, he should go to Huainan as early as possible, as the governor said. When the money and food of Jingzhou people are exhausted, it will be at your fingertips."
"Although Gong Jin is warlike, he also knows the overall situation!" Sun Quan said with a proud smile: "Cao Cao was angry and raised his army, and all the troops marched towards Nanyang. The two armies were already in a state of conflict. Cao Cao laughed at Liu Qi as a dog and a dolphin, and he was just the gatekeeper for me in Jiangdong. The dog and the two tigers are fighting, so I took the opportunity to stabilize Huainan."
Lu Su nodded and said: "Now the two armies are annexing each other. If Liu Qi wins, Cao Cao's army will be severely weakened. They can kill Cao Cao together to control Huainan and enter the Central Plains of Tu. If Cao Cao wins, they can take advantage of the momentum to divide the land of Jingzhou and draw the river. Governance, Xitu Bashu, the king's career can be accomplished!"
Sun Quan stroked his beard and laughed and said: "Since ancient times, to guard the river, you must guard the Huaihe River. If you get the land of Huainan and use the Jianghuai River as the boundary, you can enter the Central Plains and retreat to the east of the Yangtze River. You can deal with Cao's thieves calmly!"
The two men discussed it for a while, and Sun Quan sent someone to reply to Cao Cao, saying that the clan bandits were rampant in Jiangdong and the naval army was not ready yet, so it was not enough to send troops, so the date could be postponed.
He also strictly ordered all areas to hold their troops still, but secretly followed Zhou Yu's plan to mobilize troops in Niuzhu and Ruxu. They only waited for the victory of the Nanyang battle to be determined, and then waited for the opportunity to move.
